Read About and Reflect on Three Different Verses of the Bible
Matthew 27: 45, 46
Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, E-li, E-li, la-ma sa-bach-thani? That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
The suffering and death of Jesus Christ was a monumental event in history. Jesus was given to us by God as a gift (see John 3:16). Jesus, who was God incarnate, came to earth to die for our sins. It is through his death that we are able to enter into the kingdom of God. God is holy. There is no sin in God at all. All people, since Adam and Eve have fallen short of the glory of God. The only way that we are able to enter into his presence is to have faith in Jesus Christ (see Romans 3:23-25).
In the Roman’s time, the day was separated into hours. This was done to signify the time for specific prayers. These divisions of time are called the canonical hours. This is how the hours are separated:
6:00 AM (the “first hour”)
9:00 AM (the “third hour”)
Noon (the “sixth hour”)
3:00 PM (the “ninth hour”)
Therefore the passage that reads “from the sixth hour unto the ninth hour” would be translated into “from 9:00 AM until 3:00 PM”.
When Jesus died on the cross he took upon himself the sins of the world. He became a curse for us and then the curse was destroyed. When Jesus was crucified so were all of our sins. The moment before Jesus died, Jesus became sin (see 2 Corinthians 5: 21). Since no flesh shall glory in the presence of God (see 1 Corinthians 1: 29), God forsook his only Son for the sake of us all.
Verse 2
Ephesians 2: 8, 9
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: It is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Man is a very proud creature. We like to take credit for everything good that occurs in our life, world, and society. Although man has had many great accomplishments in history, none can compare to the gift of grace given to us by God. When a person is saved, there are some that say that this person chose Christ. This makes it seem as if the person had everything to do with his salvation. Although a huge blow to man’s ego, nothing could be further from the truth. God chose us to be his children, we did not choose him (see John 15:16). The only way to be saved is to receive the gift of faith in Jesus Christ, which can only come from God.
There are groups and cults and religions that will tell you that you must do certain things in order to be saved. False churches will threaten their congregation with damnation to hell if they do not give ten percent of their income each week. Other threats include that one must be baptized to earn their salvation. Another popular falsehood is that one must be a good person and do good deeds in order to “score points” with God and win a place in heaven. All of these teachings are totally false. The saving grace, which comes from God, is only given to us when we place our faith in Jesus Christ. If one believes that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, that person is saved (see 1 Corinthians 15 1-4). There is no action that anyone can make that will get them into heaven.
Verse 3
Matthew 12:50
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father, which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister, and mother.
The God of the Bible is a God of mercy. He is a loving God. He created a beautiful paradise for us to live in which supplies us with all of our needs. However, God has another side to him. When God created The Ten Commandments, his first commandment was that his people should have no other gods before him (see Exodus 20:3). He is a jealous God (see Exodus 34:14), and wants his people to be holy and separate from anything that is unclean or unholy (Deuteronomy 14: 2). God’s people are only to associate with other people that are his. Anything that is unclean should be separated from his people so that his holy name not be profaned (see Leviticus 15:31).
Family and friends are important to almost everyone. We are born into a family, grow up with them and become very close to them emotionally. Jesus taught that the family that you were born into is not the family that you are really in. The children of God are special people and are separated from the rest of the world. God chose a certain remnant of people to be his children (see 1 Peter 2:9). This is the true family of God. In fact, Christians are born not of their father and mother but of God (see John 1:13).
Jesus said that if a person does not hate his mother and father, then he is not worthy of the kingdom of God (see Luke 14:26). He also said that “blessed are ye” when men shall hate you, and when they separate you from their company for the Son of man’s sake (see Luke 6: 22). Who we associate with is important. It is said that the birds of a feather flock together. The same rule holds true for the children of God. When one becomes saved, he must realize that he must be separate from the world (see John 15:19). The apostle Paul writes that darkness should have no communion with light (see 2 Corinthians 6:14). This analogy is to open our eyes to the fact that we should not have close relations with people that are not saved.
The will of God is that his children abstain from fornication and that they are sanctified unto Him (see 1 Thessalonians 4:3). The true family of God consists of those that were born of his will, and that believe in him.
